In the wake of the tanker fire that claimed many lives, destroying over 60 vehicles, on the Otedola Bridge, in Lagos on Thursday, entertainers, through the social media have been grilling the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, over what they perceived as his inability to address the menace of tankers and trailers on Lagos roads. The governor who visited the scene of the accident on Thursday, took to his Instagram handle to condole with the victims and their wards, praying for them only to be met with open outrage from mostly entertainers who gave the governor a piece of their minds. Governor Ambode had posted on his timeline, “Very sad day. The loss of lives in an accident like today is very painful. My prayers are with everyone affected by this tragedy”. This got many entertainers reacting angrily and they were least economical in their caustic comments to his post. Read more

Ambode’s re-election Déjà vu (ThisDay)

The last six months have been challenging for Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. His challenge is not really due to the backlash of a new waste disposal regime, which was introduced in 2017. It is also not about the 2018 Land Use Charge Act, which caused a momentary storm in the state. Even though the corollaries of the two regimes had elicited public wrath, Ambode’s job was not really on the line. Despite strategic reforms his regime had introduced and massive infrastructure projects it had implemented within three years, Ambode was recently caught in the web of high wire political intrigues. For different reasons, therefore, certain political actors have been plotting against his re-election, a development that is already redefining the politics of succession in the state. That, perhaps, might be the reason the National Leader of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has not publicly endorsed him in spite of the streaks of endorsements streaming in. Read more

…Lagos Shining Example Of What Democracy Entails Says Ambode Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has commended the Lagos State Government for establishing the Employment Trust Fund (ETF) through which loans are granted to small scale businesses and people with business ideas, saying that it was particularly laudable that over 12,500 new jobs were created within the first six months of the scheme. The ETF is an initiative of the State Government established by the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode through which a total of N25billion is earmarked to be disbursed within four years to empower business owners with capital to revive moribund ventures, boost trade and as well help to start new ventures. Read more

Immunisation: Lagos, Kano target 4.8m, 3m children (Guardian)

As the second round of 2018 National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs), polio vaccination campaign for children aged zero to 59 months kicks off, Lagos and Kano States have said they planned to immunise 4.8m and 3m children respectively. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Primary Health Care, Dr. Olufemi Onanuga, at a flag-off ceremony to commence the campaign at Agege Local Government Secretariat, stated that 4, 823,122 children are expected to be covered during the campaign. He said: “The NIPDs would involve house-to-house, transit and fixed post teams. In all, Lagos State will mount 752 fixed posts, 4859 house-to-house and 1712 transit teams, children at home, markets, churches, mosques, major car parks and social events venues would be specifically targeted.” Read more

A roasted-corn seller simply identified as Mama Favour, described the situation as very horrible and that she had yet to recover from the shock, despite the fact that it happened about two days ago (Thursday). “I was at my stand roasting corn and hoping to finish all the fresh corn that I brought from the market on that Thursday morning,” she said as she turned her corn so that it doesn’t get burnt. Mama favour told our correspondents that the incident had spiritual undertones. She said her son who was with her on Thursday had the premonition that there was going to be an evil occurrence about ten minutes before the tanker fire explosion. She said, “My son came with me to the scene on Thursday and he told me that he was feeling strange. He said his body was shaking and that his head was ‘getting bigger”. Read more

The Federal Road Safety Corps has charged the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Petroleum Tanker Driver section to engage its members in rigorous traffic training to avoid frequent accidents. Mr Bisi Kazeem, Head of Public Education, FRSC, on Saturday said that such training would minimise accidents involving tankers on the roads. “We are charging them to start engaging their members in rigorous traffic trainings so as to meet minimum safety standards concerning their vehicles. “It is very important to train and retrain them, to enable them follow the rules and regulations and to meet the road standard concerning their vehicles,” he said. Read more

Our breadwinner is gone! (Vanguard)

Residents of Ojuelegba, Lagos have been lamenting the loss of lives and property caused by container-laden trucks falling from the bridge next to the one in front of the National Stadium, Surulere. The latest incident killed a commercial bus driver and member of the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, operating in the area, Razak Fatai (aka Aro), and two commuters while several others were injured. “It unfortunate that one of our members was a victim of the unfortunate incident that claimed three lives”, the Chairman of the NURTW, Ojuelegba chapter, Comrade Aronsi Ola, told Sunday Vanguard. Read more

Porsche Enthusiasts Converge on Lagos to Celebrate 70 Years of First Sports Car (ThisDay)

Porsche enthusiasts’, recently, defied the rains as they converged on Porsche Centre Lagos to pay tribute to the brand’s 70-year storied past, marking the day the first-ever Porsche 356 was registered as an automobile. Tagged ‘Sportscar together day,’ the event attracted a cluster of Porsche drivers in Nigeria in a gathering of crème de la crème, who in spite of the inclement weather, came to participate in the drive activity held to commemorate the birthday of the iconic brand. The Porsche obsessives later journeyed in a convoy of approximately 88 kilometers to the Epe Resort & SPA – a tourist suburb on the outskirt of Lagos, where the brand enthusiasts were hosted to a sumptuous breakfast. Read more

4,500 trucks enter Apapa daily without any business – NSC (Punch)

About 7,000 trucks ply the Apapa Wharf Road on a daily basis and only about 2,500 of them have genuine business at the ports, according to the report of a recent survey. The survey, which was conducted by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, was aimed at providing a lasting solution to the incessant gridlock along the Apapa Port access road. While disclosing the details of the survey during a one-day seminar for journalists in Lagos, the Deputy Director, Monitoring, Enforcement and Compliance, NSC, Mr Cajetan Agu, said it was carried out within a period of one year at the end of which the consultants code-named the Apapa access route the ‘Lagos Logistics Ring’ Read more

Tanker Explosion: Lagos to review enforcement of traffic law (NewTelegraph)

Worried by Thursday’s tanker explosion, which claimed nine lives, 54 vehicles and other properties, the Lagos State Government yesterday said that it would review enforcement strategies of the section of the Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012, which restricts the movement of trailers and tankers in the state metropolis. The section of the law states: “Safe as may be prescribed the Commissioner by Regulation, no trailer other than petrol tankers and long vehicles used in conveying passengers, shall enter into or travel within the metropolis of Lagos between the hours of 6.00am-9.00pm.” Read more

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, has commiserated with the Lagos State Government and victims of the fuel tanker fire on Otedola Bridge in Berger area of Lagos State, which claimed at least nine lives and destroyed properties worth millions of naira. In a statement, the governor said the deaths are regrettable and a loss to the country, wishing the survivors quick recovery. According to him, “the tanker fire incident is indeed a grave tragedy. The deaths are regrettable and one can only imagine the trauma the survivors are going through. I pray that God gives the families of the victims the fortitude to bear the loss. To the survivors of the resultant inferno, I wish them quick recovery.” Read more

One of the injured victims of the tanker fire accident at the Otedola Bridge, Lagos end of the Lagos Ibadan Expressway died on Friday. Sunday Punch learnt that the victim, who sustained 90 per cent burns, died late Friday at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Annex, Gbagada. It had been reported that no fewer than nine people lost their lives as 54 vehicles were consumed by the inferno on Thursday after the tanker had a crash and emptied its content on the road. Vehicles trailing the tanker were reportedly trapped and burnt by the fire, which raged for a few hours before it was put out by firefighters from the Lagos State Fire Service. Read more

Total: How we stopped petrol leakage in Lagos (Vanguard)

Fresh facts have emerged on an environmental pollution incident at Akoka area of Lagos State after a leakage occurred on the premises of a fuel station on August 13, 2017. A document obtained by Sunday Vanguard exonerated Total filling station where the leakage took place, saying it met all requirements as well as restored normalcy to affected water system across all flows. The document obtained from Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEMA, dated July 15, 2018, noted that contamination of water due to petrol leakage from the station’s underground tank was cleared. Read more

How would you describe your experience at the scene of the tanker explosion at Otedola Bridge?

It is the biggest assignment I’ve embarked on as a fireman. On that day, I sighted the flame right from our office at Alausa, Ikeja, and I knew it was going to be a catastrophic scene. I quickly alerted my colleagues and we got ourselves prepared; we didn’t need to wait for the public to notify us since we had seen it ourselves. However, on getting to the scene, members of the public started insulting us and some even threw stones at us. They accused us of coming late; meanwhile, it didn’t take us up to seven minutes to get there. We were the first firemen that were at the scene. That was very discouraging. Read more

SON uncovers N1.5b fake tyres in Lagos warehouse (Nation)

The Standards Organi-sation of Nigeria (SON) at the weekend uncovered a warehouse in Abule-Oshun and Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos where a consignment of fake tyres, said to be worth N1.5billion, were packed. This is a second haul in recent times where previously poor quality tyres were imported into the country through the ports. Stakeholders have said that the incessant importation of substandard goods into the country is as a fall-out of the quit order given to SON and other relevant agencies to leave the ports as a result of the ease-of-doing business. Earlier, the Senate Chairman on Industry, Senator Sam Egwu asked that they return to the ports as a result of the essentials role they play in standardisation and safe guarding of lives of the populace. Read more

A decade after, Lagos rail project still crawling (Guardian)

As an emerging megacity, Lagos surely needs diverse transportation modes to facilitate movement of its over 20 million residents, especially given its smallness.Over the years, land transportation has been the major means of moving around the state due to the absence of rail transportation, while water transportation is still developing.As a result of this mono transportation mode, a lot of man-hour is lost daily due to ever-present traffic snarl and the general chaotic traffic situation on Lagos roads. In an attempt to respond to the challenge, the state government gave serious considerations to intermodal transportation system. In the area of rail transportation, the idea of developing a light rail network for Lagos was resuscitated by former governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in the early 2000s, with a formal announcement of its construction in December 2003, after an earlier attempt failed. The initial $135m proposal was part of the greater Lagos Urban Transportation Project, which was to be implemented by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA). Read more

On October 7, 2014, Ganiyu Solomon, then minority whip of the Nigerian Senate, gathered local chiefs, his constituents, and party members at the Ikorodu Town Hall in Ikorodu, Lagos State. Amidst pomp and party sloganeering, artisans, party chieftains and other appendages of power danced, sang and hailed Mr Solomon to high heavens. The occasion was the official declaration of Mr Solomon’s intention to contest the 2015 governorship election in Lagos State as a candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC. The declaration also coincided with the inauguration of his campaign office in Ikorodu. Speaking at the venue of the declaration, Mr Solomon boasted that he offered to serve the people of Lagos due to his track record, the status of the state as the economic capital of the nation, and because ‘’Lagos (therefore) needs constant improvement and regeneration of infrastructural facilities and the people deserve the best possible.” Read more

African Music Festival and Cultural Expo holds in Lagos (Guardian)

All is set for the hosting of the African Music Festival and Cultural Expo ‘AMFEST Expo, Lagos 2018’. This yearly event is a networking platform catering to the culture, arts and entertainment ecosystems on the African continent. According to a statement from organisers, the event “is laden with the responsibility of expanding Africa’s creative economy into the global market through the exhibition and promotion of rich creative cultural talents and potential across Africa. “The project would cater directly to the economic expansion of African music, fashion, food, culture and creative arts industries into the global marketplace.”It is designed as a five-day event that will hold from July 2 to 6, 2018 at the Landmark Event Center, Oniru, Victoria Island, Lagos. Read more

With Isale Eko, Benson retells Lagos chieftaincy story (Guardian)

Long before the coming of colonial masters, the various kingdoms in the country had their leadership structure. They equally had ways by which new kings emerged.In Isale Eko, a play staged to celebrate the 55th anniversary of one of Nigeria’s foremost insurance company, AIICO Insurance Plc., there is an attempt to retell the history of Lagos. Written and directed by William Benson, the play deploys theatre idioms as songs, light, characterisation and costumes to tell a familiar, but germane story about the Lagos story. In the piece, the playwright weaves the story of love and intrigue into the enthronement of a new king.Using suspense and evocative language, the play goes on to reveal how the Lagos kingdom is thrown into chaos, because of love struggle between the crowned Prince Kosoko and the kingmaker, Eletu Odibo. Both men engage each other in a game of wit and subterranean subterfuge over who should marry a beautiful slave. Read more

Months before the start of the World Cup in Russia, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode was said to have shared his thought on how best Lagosians could enjoy the greatest sporting fiesta in the world with the Lagos State Sports Commission. His dream was for fans in the state to have almost the same ambiance, a replica of the mood at World Cup centres.To this end, six World Cup viewing centres that include, the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere; Campos Mini Stadium, Lagos Island; Abesan playground, Alimosho; Naval Yard Ajegunle; Bishop Aggrey Youth Centre, Mushin, and Epe Recreation Centre, were carefully created across selected areas of the state. Read more

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